


Abandoned

by Hotalando



Series: Core [9]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon - Movie, Discovery, Eerie, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 05:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12834168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hotalando/pseuds/Hotalando
Summary: Chopper wandering off to discover what strange an island they anchored at. [based on the sixth movie]





	Abandoned

**Author's Note:**

> Sort of the expanse of that scene in the sixth One Piece movie _Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island (Omatsuri Danshaku to Himitsu no Shima)_ where Luffy, Robin and Chopper stay at the hotel and Chopper separates from the trio to explore.

“I’m just going to take a walk,” he smiled at Robin from the door leading outside, barely hearing her last words as he set foot onto the porch. There was a sensation nagging him since they had settled onto this island that didn’t let him stay still. Something about this place didn’t seem right, something about the people here felt too strange to ignore.  
And so he left the huge villa to explore the island a little more. 

The area around the villa was wide and neatly kept, garden patches and rich flowerbed arrangements framing fountains and ponds, as well as the path he was walking on. So many different impressions played with his mind, not to mention the scents of the flowers and the food from the nearby kitchen. This place was paradise-like, built on some naturally beautiful island surrounded by clear turquoise waters, someone had built this resort with so much effort based on ideas from around the world.  
Chopper passed through a gate leading him directly to a plastered road. To each side there were buildings rising high, at least two-storey houses lined up as far as he could see. Some feet ahead there was another road crossing through, offering a similar sight of buildings. His curiosity let him stroll further into what seemed like a town. 

Contrary to the crowds of people they had met upon their first trial, this town was completely empty. And how odd it was: In an architectural sense, as far as Chopper could tell, this place seemed to provide homes to thousands of islanders. This settlement must have been a flourishing town at some point, he figured. Wealthy, lively, developing, Chopper could only imagine the life that happened between these walls. And now, the last remainders were falling off the thick walls like ice-cream off a cone. Why weren’t the people they had met before living here?

As he followed the paths covering the uneven ground, he noticed how considerate the designs of the buildings were; with the ground going up and down throughout the terrain, the foundations perfectly balanced it out. He climbed up a set of stairs where the road was crawling up a little hill, and was taken to a large empty square. With no soul to liven it up, there was only the air of an abandoned, dead town left. An atmosphere growing so intense within split seconds that Chopper didn’t notice the chill shooting up his spine before he was already shaken with awareness. 

Every step intensified this feeling, the ghosts of this town reaching for his attention. His intention to explore and find out what was wrong with this island was slowly crumbling at the edges, almost like the stucco of the facades around him. The scene turned eerie, dark and Chopper felt the urge to turn on his heels, maybe he should come back with Robin? but his feet kept walking. He had come so far, his curiosity had been feeding off of aging buildings and the ever stranger turning indicators that in fact were simply _missing_. What was the most irritating, mysterious thing about this town was what wasn’t there, not even where it shouldn’t. There was simply nothing; nothing that lived, nothing that serviced the living, just these buildings and roads, so empty and cold. 

Chopper halted at a building that didn’t appear to be a home. The windows were wider as was the door whose frame carried rich and delicate stucco decorations hinting a logo. Between the door and the first window was a slit in the facade, about ten centimeters wide and thirty tall. From its position and the composition with the door and windows, it reminded him of a shop that had a large impressive sign attached to the shop’s front to inform about its services. Even the sign had been detached, and as Chopper noticed from turning around, he found the actual plates missing from all the street signs, only the frames were left.

From there on it was impossible to shake off the idea that something was terribly amiss. Each step materialized the feeling he had had upon reaching this island until it resembled a stone sliding down his throat. Sceneries started to turn gruesome, or maybe he was just too sensitive for these kinds of places? How could he stay objective with an atmosphere echoing off the walls around him that seemed to be after his sanity? And yet—the still growing adventurer inside him wanted to stroll further into the reality of this mystery.

Two roads left and one right and the faint scent of grass and flowers met him on a salty sea breeze. Contrasting to the smell of old buildings covered in dust and time, Chopper wouldn’t miss the hints of its origin the welcomed scent was tagging along. He had finally reached the ends of town, there must be fields of flowers and the shore close by, and hopefully a less terrifying path back to the hotel. 

Once his hooves set onto a sandy road curving its way out of the abandoned settlement, Chopper inhaled the fresh air, allowing his mind to rest a little on the moment of accomplishment. Despite his fears, he had made it through and despite his observations, he was still curious to find out more. There was more to be found out, he could read it on the black windows of the buildings, he could hear it howling dryly through their blinds; there had to be a reason for the abandonment of such an originally beautiful town. 

That it would crash down on him like a wave on a coast in a disastrous storm, how little had he known. How naively had he assumed. When his eyes took sight of the countless gravestones lining up to the horizon, he wanted to abandon it all.


End file.
